When We Were Young
by FoolsRushIn
Summary: Barney and Robin already have a long, complicated past when she's brought into the group. B/R
1. Prologue

_I keep writing more stories even though I shouldn't. I promise I'll update my other story next, but this was stuck in my head. Now I'll probably update them in rotation. I have finals this week so probably no more updates but after that winter break for six weeks so I'll be updating often! Let me know what you thought of this concept. I'm not entirely sure about this yet. I have a whole backstory written and everything. But I'm only going to reveal a little at a time haha. Thanks for reading!_

* * *

What the hell was she doing here? When Robin met Lily while shopping a few days ago and was invited to have drinks with her friends, she was ecstatic. She recently moved back to the city for a job, after living in Chicago for a few years. Anyway, she had been having trouble finding anyone, which wasn't really a problem. Robin was a very independent person, but it'd be nice to have some friends. And that led to this. Having drinks in a bar with Lily, her fiancé, her fiancé's roommate who couldn't stop staring at her, and Barney Stinson. Of all the people in New York City (the biggest city in the United fucking States) she befriended one of Barney's friends. Robin and Barney went way back. Well, maybe not way back but about eight years back.

They were young when they met, Robin was a freshman in college and Barney was a junior. It was a chance meeting; they didn't even go to the same school. They happened to have one mutual friend and were both invited to a party. The rest was history. Actually, that's completely false. They were drawn to each other; of course they were both extremely attractive people. The next three years were a whirlwind of events that ended in both of them being heartbroken. Robin was so sure she would never see Barney again after that day, but here she was in a bar having drinks with him and his friends. He looked older, obviously. She hadn't seen him in about four years. But he also looked different. He was wearing a suit, which she didn't think she'd ever seen him wear before. Well, okay, there was that one time but that didn't count.

She didn't even know how to act. Were they supposed to pretend they didn't know each other? She barely got a chance to think about it before Lily was introducing her and Barney was pretending he didn't know her and Ted was staring at her and Marshall and Lily were being the perfect couple and Robin didn't know what to do. Of course, as if her luck wasn't bad enough, she ended up sitting in the booth next to Barney. They were separated as much as they possibly could be, not even glancing at each other. It put her on edge to be this close to Barney again after so many years. And she couldn't even acknowledge it because Barney was pretending nothing ever happened.

"Now Barney, this one's off limits. There are plenty of other girls in this bar for you to go after. Besides this one's too smart to fall for one of your ridiculous schemes." Lily instructed looking directly at Barney, who laughed slightly but didn't look up from his drink. Robin's stomach sunk. He had become exactly like her, never looking for more commitment than a night. She could remember how willing they'd both been to jump into a relationship when they met. Now, he seemed just as commitment phobic as her because they had destroyed each other. And that's what relationships did; they destroyed people. She quickly shook herself out of her thoughts when she realized Ted was talking to her.

"So, Robin where do you work?"

"Uh, just a local news station. I'm a reporter." She explained.

"Oh, cool! And Lily said you just moved here. Where are you from?" He asked genuinely interested. She wanted to stop him now, before he got too invested in starting a thing with her. But she had to at least humor him.

"Well, I'm originally from Canada." She glanced sidelong at Barney, half expecting him to make a jab at her home like he always used to but he said nothing and she continued. "Then I went to college in Boston," Barney stiffened at the message and she powered through. "Moved to Chicago afterward and eventually ended up here."

"Well, we're all thankful for that." Ted said with a smile. "

"Yeah, we could use another girl in this group." Lily agreed.

"Happy to be of service." She said with a tight smile all too aware of the fact that Barney hadn't said a word since she sat down. She wanted to talk to him. God, they had so much to talk about, but he wouldn't even look at her.

"If you'll excuse me, there's a blonde at the bar who could use some attention." Barney said with a wink quickly excusing himself.

"Is he, uh, always like that?" Robin asked hesitantly. She suspected the answer, but she wanted it to be confirmed.

"Yeah, but you'll get used to it." Ted assured her with an easy smile. She glanced at the bar where Barney was chatting up a blonde and she didn't think she would. As much as she liked Lily, she didn't know if it was worth putting herself through this everyday.

"He's a crafty one." Lily revealed. "Always coming up with new plots and plans to get women into bed."

"And it works every time," Marshall affirmed. "He's pretty smooth." Robin almost laughed because the Barney she knew had been anything but smooth. She had trouble picturing him as anything but the sweet nerd who asked her out. It was hard to put the image of the Barney she had met tonight with the image of the Barney she had known all those years ago. They seemed like two entirely different people. Well, they probably were. She was nowhere near the same person she had been. Barney sent one last wink over to the group as led the blonde out of the bar. Before they were gone, though, Barney gave her one last lingering look. She sighed shaking the memories out of her mind. They talked for another hour or so before Marshall and Lily used what Ted called the "secret code" and excused themselves.

"So, Robin do you want to get dinner sometime?"


	2. The Night They Met

_Well, I'm not entirely sure where this is going? I should probably figure that out, I guess. I hope this chapter wasn't too bad. It took me forever to write and I kept getting distracted and then coming back. I tried to make sure it wasn't to incoherent and hopefully I succeeded? Let me know what you thought and thanks to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed the first chapter!  
_

* * *

Robin was dating Ted. Or at least that was what Barney had gathered from the situation. He hadn't been hanging around the group much lately, mostly to avoid Robin. He didn't think anyone noticed anyway. Ted was way too busy falling in love with Robin and Marshall and Lily never really cared whether he was there or not. He was going to MacLaren's tonight though. He knew Ted and Robin had a date tonight, so they wouldn't be there. God, he couldn't believe it. Robin, his Robin, was in a relationship with his best friend. Of all the ways he thought Robin might come back into his life…well, he couldn't have guessed this one.

He avoided her every chance he got. They had said barely two words to each other since she resurfaced. The worst part was that she obviously wanted to talk to him. He could tell by the way she watched him. And he was doing everything in his power to make sure it didn't happen. Yeah, okay, he kind of felt bad about it. Robin didn't really do anything to deserve this from him. But he was still holding a grudge about how they ended. It was too soon, too premature. They should have been together longer.

He rubbed his hand over his face as he entered MacLaren's. Hopefully he could find some short, stupid blonde to go home with tonight. He developed a type, after Robin. No tall brunettes. No brunettes at all really. They reminded him too much of her. And that was the last thing he wanted. He took a seat at the bar, right next to a blonde. She was pretty enough; he really didn't feel like being picky tonight. They were out the door in a matter of minutes and Barney wrapped his arm around the girl shaking all thoughts of Robin out of his mind.

* * *

Robin didn't know what she was doing with Ted. He was sweet and he asked her out, so she said 'yes'. In retrospect, that was probably a terrible decision. She already pegged him as a commitment addict, who fell into relationships way too quickly. And she was the exact opposite. She knew she would hurt him if she didn't stop seeing him soon. But she didn't know how. She was never good at breaking up with people. Even when she was a teenager, she'd been horrible at it. And when she broke up with Barney...that had been awful. But she wasn't even in a relationship with Ted, they were both free to see other people. So she didn't have to say anything yet. But at the slightest mention of commitment she would let him know that it was really not her thing. Yeah. That sounded like a good plan.

* * *

Ted wanted to have dinner with him and Robin, no Marshall and Lily. Just Ted, Robin, and Barney. And he tried to get out of it, but Ted wouldn't let him weasel his way out. So now he was going to dinner with Ted and Robin. God, he didn't think they were serious enough to be having dinners with the best friend. But Ted wanted him to get to know Robin better. He thought they'd get along really well. Barney laughed harshly tying his tie. If only Ted knew. Well, he could do this for Ted. He would try and not make things awkward with Robin because Ted couldn't know something was up.

But of course dinner was awkward. Ted was clearly already in love with Robin, who pacified Ted with half smiles of reassurance. But Ted was trying too hard and it was awkward. It didn't help that Barney was doing everything he possibly could to avoid speaking directly to Robin. He kept addressing questions to both of them or making statements as general announcements, when they were veiled attempts to get Robin to loosen up. And it was unfair of him to do that to her. He shouldn't be trying to make her feel better while he was completely ignoring her. But it was practically in his DNA to do anything he could to comfort her, especially when it was clear that she was having a terrible time. He shook his head as Robin downed the rest of her wine. She was probably going to be good and drunk by the end of this night.

* * *

The night went on forever. Or at least Robin felt like it did. Once dinner was over, they had to go to MacLaren's of course. It was nearing midnight and she still hadn't gotten Barney alone to confront him yet. She got her perfect opportunity when Barney left at the end of the night. She could catch him outside and make him talk to her. Because he had to talk to her. She would make him. Of course, she knew forcing him into talking wasn't the best idea, but at this point she was desperate. Robin quickly said goodbye to Ted and ran out the door after Barney. She was relieved to find him still standing outside the bar and not halfway down the street.

"Robin," he greeted coldly and she sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Barney, we have to talk." He laughed harshly.

"We have absolutely nothing to talk about."

"Why do you keep ignoring me?" She asked with a tone of desperation in her voice. She wanted answers. Barney had no right to be angry with her.

"Are you serious? Don't you remember how everything ended?" He turned an eyebrow up and she could feel the condescending attitude he was putting out. She knew why he was doing it. She understood, but it still hurt that he was being so cold with her. This wasn't the Barney that she fell in love with.

"It crashed and burned." Robin muttered under her breath crossing her arms.

"It did. So, I'm sorry if you expected me to be some cheerful, fake version of myself to make you happy. Making you happy stopped being my job a long time ago." Well, that stung. She honestly couldn't understand why he insisted on being such a jackass.

"That's not-" She sighed trying to gather her thoughts. "That's not what I expected."

"You kind of showed up back into my life out of nowhere, Robin. It's not like I actually wanted to see you again." He said shoving his hands into his pockets in frustration.

"Stop acting like you're the only one who got hurt here! You hurt me too."

"I didn't do anything. You hired a lawyer, you filed for divorce, you were the first one to sign the papers." She sighed and ran a hand over her face. Why didn't he understand that that had been her last resort? She was hoping the divorce papers would make him have a change of heart, instead it had made everything so much worse.

"I did that for a reason! I lived through an entire month of you coming home in the middle of the night and even then you could barely look at me. I tried to talk to you and you wouldn't listen. Don't act like you were innocent in all of this." She scoffed crossing her arms and kicking the pavement. God, Barney was always so infuriating. He sighed and stomped out the cigarette he'd been smoking.

"Look, now isn't the time and this definitely isn't the place for this conversation." Of course it wasn't. There was never a good time for Barney to have a serious conversation. That was their downfall in the end, his inability to have the one conversation they needed to. "Besides your boyfriend is still waiting for you inside."

"He's not my boyfriend." She muttered under her breath.

"None of my business," he shrugged holding his hands up as he walked away.

"Barney!" She called in frustration looking after him.

"There's no reason to talk about this, Robin." He said before turning the corner and leaving her standing alone.

* * *

Yeah, he was being an asshole. He could accept that, but he had no reason to be nice to her. She destroyed everything between them by serving him those divorce papers. He shook his head. They were stupid to get married, anyway. What the hell had they been thinking? Marriage was definitely something he never needed to experience again. One explosive marriage was enough for a lifetime.

Even with the argument he just had with Robin, all he could think about was the night they met. Sure, it'd make more sense for his mind to be on the end. The divorce, the fighting, the…well, yeah, the way they ended. But his mind kept wandering back to that party.

* * *

_Barney hated parties. He wasn't a very outgoing person, so a party was probably the worst environment for him. His friends had dragged him here because they knew the guy throwing the party and there would be cute girls. And there were. There was a brunette across the room who he couldn't stop watching. She had caught him watching her a couple times and each time he sent her a shy smile and looked down. He was terrible with girls. Absolutely awful. He never really had a serious relationship before. Or any relationships really. And he didn't no how to talk to girls at all. He always ended up making an idiot out of himself and he was really sick of doing that. So, he was going to stick to sitting on the couch and occasionally smiling at the cute brunette._

"_Hi!" A feminine voice to his right greeted. He quickly turned to come face-to-face with the brunette. Shit. What did he do now? Say hi back, the voice in his head replied. _

"_H-hey," he smiled trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. _

"_I noticed you were sitting by yourself and I figured I would come talk to you." She smiled widely. She was really pretty, so much prettier than anyone he'd ever been involved with. "I'm Robin," she introduced._

"_Barney," he informed her awkwardly sticking his hand out so she could shake it. She placed her hand in his shaking it slightly and he felt a slight tingle shoot through his arm when their hands touched. Don't get girly, Stinson. _

"_So, where do you go to school?" _

"_MIT." _

"_Wow, smart," she nodded approvingly. "That always makes a guy more attractive." He blushed a deep red and she laughed. The conversation continued like that for a few more minutes covering the basics with Robin trying to flirt and Barney just attempting to form a coherent answer. "Do you want to dance?" She asked as the conversation tapered off. _

"_Uh, no thanks, I don't really, uh, do that whole thing." She looked disappointed, but nodded as if she expected the answer. _

"_Okay, well, hopefully I'll see you around Barney." Robin flashed him one last smile before disappearing into the crowd and he figured that'd be the last time he saw her. _

* * *

It wasn't, of course. If that had been the last time he saw Robin the story would have ended a long time ago. There would have been no marriage, no divorce, no heartbreak. What would have happened to him? Well, he probably wouldn't be half the womanizer he was now. He could thank Robin completely for that one.

As much as he only wanted to remember the bad that came out of the relationship, they had some really good times. Obviously, they had gotten married for a reason. Robin was his best friend for a long time and sometimes he missed having her around. But it was easier to keep her at a distance. Spending time with her tonight had hurt enough. He was realizing all that he was missing what he had given up. Well, not really given up since Robin kind of forced him into it but he probably could have fought a little harder for her. And yeah, he was a jerk when they'd been talking earlier. He tried to place all the blame on her, because he didn't want to take any responsibility for it. He wanted to pretend he didn't care and that he wanted nothing to do with her, because if he could convince himself then maybe it could actually be true.


	3. He Had to Talk to Robin

_Ah, sorry, this took me longer than I intended but to make up for it, it's extra long! So, hopefully that's okay. Thank you guys for all your feedback on this story, I really appreciate it a lot. Okay, let me know what you think!_

* * *

Robin completely ended things with Ted by mid-October. They both knew it was coming, they weren't meant to be. Robin was looking for a fling and Ted wanted a serious commitment. It took longer than it should have to call it quits. Ted had known what he was getting into and he held on for longer than Robin expected. But then he let the l-word drop and Robin was done. Ted accepted her decision and nodded as if he'd been expecting it.

She figured that would be it. She could make a clean break from the group. Maybe have coffee with Lily a couple times a month, but she was for all intents and purposes done with the rest of the group. She liked Ted, a lot. She could see them being great friends and Marshall was very sweet, but she needed to get away from Barney. They were toxic to each other, that was one of the many reasons they'd ended; and being around him everyday had her stressed out and on edge. So, when she told Ted she was done; she meant with everything. Then Ted said, "Well, you're still going to hang out with us." As if she had no say in the matter. And she really didn't, unless she told Ted about Barney, which she definitely wasn't going to do.

Basically she didn't escape like she was planning. She ended up in MacLaren's every night across the table from Barney, the only difference was that she wasn't dating Ted.

It sucked. It was really awful to watch Barney every night hit on every hot woman in the bar and she started retaliating. She didn't have Ted anymore, so now she found random men. Not as often as Barney, but still often enough. It was almost like a challenge some nights, see which one of them could get someone to take them home first. Yeah, it was immature and destructive but she didn't care at first.

She finally realized that she needed to stop this insane game she had going on with Barney when she was on her fourth consecutive one night stand. So she did. Of course, Barney didn't. And even though she refused to play along, that didn't keep him from hooking up with every girl he saw and directing snide comments at her. She was beyond sick of it. Robin didn't go to MacLaren's every night to be attacked by Barney. Of course no one else in the group understood what was going on and she couldn't just stop going to the bar. That would be suspicious. So every night before she walked in and slipped on her mask, that way no one would see how much this was actually hurting her. She needed to find a solution and fast.

* * *

Two months later and nothing had changed. Not for lack of trying on Robin's part. She had tried to sort of phase herself out of the group, but every time she didn't show up someone called to see where she was. So, she stuck around. She learned to live with Barney, she didn't think he was going to change his attitude towards her no matter what she did. She sighed and scrubbed her hand over her face, it didn't matter anymore she told herself. She had closed the door on Barney and their marriage and that entire part of her life. If only Barney could see it that way…but he seemed to be hell-bent on tearing her apart. She wished she knew why, so she could fix it. She had given him countless apologies over the years and he had never listened, really she shouldn't be worried about what he thought at all. She needed to not allow Barney to affect her anymore. She jumped when the phone rang because she'd been so engrossed in her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Hey Robin, it's Lily." Lily said quickly sounding out of breath.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she assured Robin. "Listen we decided to throw an impromptu surprise birthday party for Barney tonight." Robin glanced at the calendar and realized that it was indeed Barney's birthday today.

"Okay…" Robin replied. She needed to think of a way to get out of it and fast. Barney wouldn't want her at that party and she didn't want to be there.

"Grab a present and some beer and get over here as fast as you can." Robin could hear Ted and Marshall's voices on the other end of the line yelling about decorations and scotch and food.

"I actually don't think I can go." She answered slowly.

"What do you mean? Your plans tonight were with us." Damnit Lily. She knew that, but couldn't she just let this go. Robin didn't want to be there anymore than Barney wanted her there.

"Well, I have a date later."

"Just bring him with you. It's fine. But you have to come, it's Barney's birthday!" Lily exclaimed happily. Robin sighed knowing there was no way she was getting out of it.

"Fine, I'll be there shortly."

"Great!" Lily replied brightly. " It starts at six, but you can come now and help us decorate."

"Wonderful," Robin responded trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice before hanging up the phone. _Grab a present. _What the hell was she supposed to get Barney? And then she remembered. She still had his birthday present from four years ago. She had bought it months in advance and then by the time his birthday came, they were divorced and not speaking. She ended up keeping it because she couldn't sell it and she couldn't get rid of it. So it sat in her closet. She could just give it to him. At least then it would maybe be put to use. And what the hell did she have to lose? Barney already hated her, so she might as well give him the present. It could only serve to help her at this point.

She opened her closet digging around until she found exactly where it was. Everything was still perfectly intact. She nodded satisfied and walked out the door making a quick stop at the liquor store. She bought some beer and Barney's favorite scotch before making her way to Marshall and Ted's. She took a deep breath outside of the apartment preparing herself for what was sure to be a long night. Ted beamed at her when she walked through the door and she managed a small smile back, she could never quite get used to the way Ted looked at her. She shook it off as he greeted her and took the gift out of her hand.

"Whoa, what the hell is this?" He asked marveling at how heavy it was.

"Just something I knew he wanted." She brushed it off.

"Wow, all I got him was a tie." Robin laughed slightly and shrugged.

"Well, he could definitely use that." She was still getting used to this new version of Barney who wore suits and had elaborate plays to get women. He was so different than he used to be. She guessed that was probably her fault and she felt a little guilty for that. That he had been so upset after they ended that he completely reinvented himself, although she had done much of the same. And she refused to accept all the blame for the failure of their relationship. It had been as much him, as it had her.

"You brought the beer?" Lily asked from the kitchen and Robin entered to find Lily setting a cake on the kitchen counter.

"I did," she affirmed holding up the case of beer and setting it down at the table that had been designated the food table. Robin helped prepare the apartment doing whatever Lily told her needed to be done. She kept her mind off of what Barney would think about her being there and focused on making the apartment look as nice as possible.

"Okay, Barney and the guests should be arriving at any second." Almost on cue, people started knocking at the door. She could tell most of them were Barney's work friends. There was a plethora of young good-looking men in suits and if she had been in a different mood, she might have struck up a conversation with them but she really just wanted the night to be over. She knew exactly when Barney walked in because all other activity stopped and everyone turned yelling "happy birthday!" excitedly. Barney grinned widely his eyes taking in the room, his grin faltered slightly when his eyes landed on her but he quickly looked away and turned toward Ted, who was standing to her right.

"Thanks, bro!" Barney cheered clapping Ted on the back.

"You're welcome, but it was really more of a group effort." Ted admitted.

"Well, thanks guys. I really appreciate it." He said genuinely and in that moment Robin caught a glimpse of the old Barney, the one she had been married to. But then he's back to this new Barney in the next second clapping his hands together and declaring he needs to find some ladies.

Things were going surprisingly well, though. After Barney and Ted had gone off on their little adventure Robin stuck around Lily and Barney avoided them. It seemed to be working and she thought that maybe the whole night would work out like that. Except it didn't. Because James showed up.

"Happy birthday, brother!" James exclaimed loudly entering the apartment. Barney grinned enveloping James in a hug and Robin couldn't help but smile at the brothers. She was glad they were still close; she knew how important they were to each other. She didn't even think about all the problems that James presented until he spotted her and his eyes lit up. "Robin! What the hell are you doing here?" He asked happily walking over to her and giving her a hug.

"You know James?" Lily's shocked voice floated over to them and Robin and Barney quickly jumped into action.

"Yeah, I didn't know you guys knew each other." Barney said feigning surprise. James' eyebrows crinkled in confusion at Barney's statement but Robin quickly jumped in.

"Oh yeah, James and I go way back. I can't even remember how we met originally?" Robin laughed silently pleading James to go along with it.

"I can't either." He said suspiciously and she knew he would corner her later and make her explain. James was never one to let people off the hook. Soon enough everyone went back to their previous activities and forgot about Robin's random past with James. And she was glad because she didn't want to have to explain that in detail to Lily. She never was all that good at lying outright.

She sighed leaning against the doorway of the kitchen nursing her scotch. She could see Barney flirting with some girl out of the corner of her eye and she tried to ignore it, turning her attention to her drink but it wasn't working. Her eyes kept going back to Barney and no matter what she did, she couldn't stop. It was just another reminder of how much she still cared about him and how littler he seemed to feel toward her. She downed the rest of her scotch slamming her glass down on the counter.

"Sorry," she apologized to the couple next to her, who she had startled with her outburst. She took a deep breath willing herself to calm down. She couldn't lose her cool at the party, but the bathroom was occupied and she wasn't sure what was happening in the bedrooms, she wasn't taking any chances though. She quickly made her way up to the roof leaving her coat behind; she was Canadian anyway, she didn't need it.

Robin walked to the edge of the building letting her arms rest on the ledge. She gazed out at the city suddenly feeling calm. She needed to let Barney go. She was done with that. She needed to be for her own sanity. She never even realized all the unresolved feelings she had toward him until he came back into her life. Maybe finally giving him that present would be like shutting the door. The last trace of their past life in her apartment. Of course she had a box full of their memories in a storage unit somewhere. She couldn't get rid of them, but she knew if it was in her apartment she'd look at it more than she should. So it was locked away, there if she ever needed it, but not at easy access.

"I thought I'd find you up here." James commented walking across the roof toward her. She gave him a small smile. They stood in silence for a few seconds staring out at the city, but he finally spoke up. "What's going on with you and Barney?" She let out a harsh, bitter laugh and shook her head.

"Nothing at all." James bumped her shoulder lightly.

"You know I don't believe that."

"I met Lily and she invited me for drinks with her friends. I had no idea her friends included Barney. He pretended like we didn't know each other and has kept that up for the last four months. I tried to talk to him, but he really, really doesn't want to talk to me. We basically ignore each other, unless he's insulting me in some way." She explained trying not to sound as upset as she was. James nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I figured as much." He turned away from the view to face Robin. "You know he was really hurt when you guys got divorced."

"Yeah, but so was I!" She yelled in frustration. "He acts like I was the bad guy. I'm not the only one to blame! And I hate that that's how he sees it. I've apologized so many times in so many ways, but none of them seem to be good enough for him. Apparently he's just going to hate me forever." She finished blinking back tears and taking deep breaths. Wow, she hadn't realized how much she needed to get that out. Then she remembered who she was talking to and quickly apologized. "God, James, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to let that out on you."

"Don't apologize," he shook his head. "I didn't take sides when you divorced and I'm not going to take sides now. But if Barney is really acting like that…" James trailed off with a sigh.

"It's fine." She pressed her fingers to her temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"If this is really upsetting you, then you need to talk to him." Robin let out a humorless laugh.

"Every time I try to talk to him, he walks away. It's useless." She sighed shaking her head. "I-" She took a deep breath running a hand through her hair. "I have to get out of here. Tell Lily I left and give Barney his present. It's in Ted's room." She quickly walked across the roof feeling a slight sense of relief at telling James everything, but she was still reaching the end of her rope.

"Robin!" He called out to her as she reached the steps. "If you ever need me, you know how to reach me." She nodded and ran back across the roof giving James a hug.

"Thank you," she said quietly and he smiled back at her. She managed to sneak out unnoticed and headed back to her apartment only stopping on the way to buy a pack of cigarettes, she was going to need them.

* * *

Barney collapsed on the couch when he got home. After all these months, he was emotionally exhausted. He knew he was being an asshole to Robin. He wasn't totally blind to the hurt that shined in her eyes every time he said something negative toward her. He wiped a hand over his face. He glanced to the other side of the couch where his gift from Robin laid. He swiped it and set it down on his lap. He was worried that if he opened it, he would feel like even more of a dick.

James had made him feel awful. He basically tore into Barney and he knew he deserved it. That was partly what he was doing to Robin. He wanted her to get angry enough to yell at him because that was the only thing that would make him feel better at this point. He could handle her anger, but he hated hurting her. And he had no good reason for doing it. He knew the divorce wasn't all her fault, if anything it was more his fault. He had been lashing out at Robin because he was still angry at himself for the way he'd let them end. What the fuck was wrong with him?

He tore the paper off the present in order to get some of his pent-up frustration out. He opened up the box and let out a breath in surprise. It was a violin. The violin he remembered wanting for his entire life. He had never had enough money to buy it and by the time he did, he'd been done with that whole part of his life. He let go of his dream of playing violin when him and Robin were over. When they divorced he became a completely separate version of Barney and this version didn't have time for playing the violin.

He picked it up and played it experimentally. It sounded as good as he always thought it would. He put it down and stood up pacing around the room. As if he didn't feel like enough of an asshole, Robin went and bought him the most thoughtful present ever. Something that no one else even knew about him. He grabbed his suit jacket and threw it out quickly walking out the door.

He had to talk to Robin.


	4. Let's Get Married

_I am so so so so sooooo sorry this took so long. I could give you all the excuses why, but they all kind of suck. So instead I will just apologize and leave you to read this. I didn't have enough time to proof read, though, so hopefully there aren't any glaring errors? Anyway, I will try to get the next chapter up faster than I did this one. Thank you guys so much for all your reviews and favorites and follows, though! I'm really glad you like this story. Okay, enough of my rambling. _

* * *

Robin was exhausted, physically and emotionally. So when there was a knock on her door around midnight, she cried out in frustration. She wanted to sleep and she couldn't deal with anything, or anyone, else tonight. She hoped that whoever was at her door would go away, but she knew that was unlikely. If they made the effort to come all the way over here at midnight, they probably weren't going away any time soon. She figured she could at least let them wait it out for disturbing her. When they knocked again, this time louder and the raps sounded more agitated somehow, she knew she had to answer it. They clearly weren't going to leave her alone.

She sighed and swung the door open, not even bothering to check the peep hole. She looked up prepared to send whoever her guest was away, but all the words were taken out of her mouth when she saw Barney. In a way she had never seen him before, except maybe right before their divorce. He looked exhausted, his tie was skewered, and the normal bravado to his stance was gone as he slumped against her doorway.

"Hi," he greeted giving her a tentative smile. Despite how taken aback she was by his appearance, she quickly rebuilt her walls where Barney was concerned. She crossed her arms blocking him from entering the apartment.

"What are you doing here, Barney?" She asked in a clipped tone. He sighed tiredly and rubbed a hand over his face.

"I just want to talk." He replied. "Please." Robin nodded moving aside and eyeing Barney.

She had no idea what he was doing here, but from his behavior the last couple weeks she was a little nervous. Although, he looked tired and upset and she figured maybe he was here to apologize. After all, James had said he was going to talk to Barney. She didn't know what the extent of that conversation had been but she figured that was at least partly why he was here.

"So, how're things?" He inquired shoving his hands into his suit pocket.

"Cut the shit, Barney. Why are you here?" She demanded. She could hear the anger in her voice, but she wasn't about to apologize for anything. At this point, she didn't owe Barney anything much less an apology for that.

"I deserve that." He nodded with a sigh. "I'm sorry." He finally said and she raised an eyebrow.

"For what?" He was silent for a few seconds biting his lower lip in thought.

"For everything the last couple months." He answered. "I've been such an asshole and I know you don't deserve it. So, I'm sorry for doing that to you." She thought about accepting the apology and just sending him on his way, but she couldn't let him off the hook that easy. It reminded her of all the times they fought when they were married. He would apologize, she would let it go, and then the whole thing would cycle through again.

"Why did you do that, though? I never did anything to you. In fact, I apologized for everything that happened and you completely ignored it. I just-" Robin shook her head. "I don't get it."

"I-" Barney floundered as his mouth kept opening and then closing searching for the right words. But suddenly his demeanor changed and he stood up straight, squaring his shoulders and looking at her. "You deserve to know the truth. I've been acting the way I have the last couple of months because I'm so mad at myself. I hate the way I let this end between us. I know the divorce wasn't all your fault, but it was easier to blame you and be angry at you; then it was to admit that it was mostly my fault, especially when you weren't in my life. But then you came back and I didn't know what to do. I wanted to keep blaming you, so that ended up with me lashing out at you constantly." He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. "James talked to me tonight, after the party…I'm not proud of the way I've been acting. And it kills me that I've been hurting you, but you have to understand that I didn't know what else to do." They were both silent after that: Robin taking all the information in and Barney trying to recover from the long speech he made.

"Do you ever wonder why the hell we got married in the first place?" Robin asked after a few beats. Barney laughed slightly, but nodded in agreement.

"A lot of the time, actually." He scratched the back of his neck and shrugged. "But I loved you."

"I loved you too." She stated softly.

"I think that's why we did it." He finally murmured.

"That among other things," Robin said with a smirk.

"Are you implying anything other than love was what caused our holy union?" She raised an eyebrow and he laughed in response. It felt like they were right back to where they were before everything. It was…nice. Robin had missed him a lot. Barney was once the most important person in her life and then all of a sudden he was gone completely and then he was back, but not in a way that either of them wanted.

"I missed this." She admitted quietly. "You know, before everything happened we were pretty great friends." He nodded in acknowledgment.

"I know. Is there any chance we could go back to that?" He asked hopefully.

"I would really like that." They smiled hesitantly at each other.

"Good."

"Good." She echoed. Robin felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. All these months, she'd been worrying about what Barney would do or say next and now she finally didn't have to anymore.

"Okay, well, I'll let you go to bed. But MacLaren's tomorrow?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Sure," she smiled.

"Thanks for the present, by the way." He said softly.

"Oh yeah," she shrugged. "I've had it for awhile."

"What?"

"I, uh, bought it right before the divorce. By the time your birthday came, we weren't speaking but I couldn't get rid of it." Barney nodded knowingly.

"Well, I appreciate it. And again, I'm really sorry."

"I forgive you, Barney." He stopped at the door turning around to look at her. They both hesitated for a second before Barney pulled her into his arms hugging her tightly. She wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her head against his shoulder as his arms circled her shoulders.

"I really did miss you."

"Me too," she murmured letting him go.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" She nodded in affirmation and closed the door behind him. Well, that had been unexpected.

* * *

He took a deep breath as soon as he was outside. He felt better than he had in awhile. Barney finally fixed, or at least as much as he could at that moment, the situation with Robin. He sighed as his mind ran in circles over their conversation. He had been a little worried Robin wouldn't forgive him. After all, her constant forgiveness was what had caused their downfall. Although, she hadn't just forgiven him like she used to. She made him explain everything and only after that had she forgiven him, which made sense.

He was proud of her for who she was now and everything she had accomplished. Of course part of him hated that part of who she was was an extreme commitment-phobe because he knew that was his fault.

He wondered what the rest of the gang would think if they ever found out about his and Robin's past. There'd probably be a lot of shock involved and they'd be angry that they hadn't known sooner. He took out his phone checking the time, 12:45 AM. He probably had enough time to grab a drink before he went home. Although he wouldn't be taking home a bimbo tonight. He couldn't do it.

That's always how it was when his head was too clogged with thoughts of Robin. He almost felt like going home with another girl was wrong in some way. He knew rationally that there was absolutely nothing wrong about what he was doing, but it had been hard to move on from her. In some ways he knew he still hadn't moved on. Part of him was always going to be that 22 year-old who fell in love hard and fast with the greatest woman he had ever met.

He thought back on their marriage now and realized it was a stupid decision. They had both been way too young to make such a serious choice like that, but they did it anyway. He honestly wouldn't change a thing, except maybe how he acted toward the end…but marrying Robin had given him some really good times, a lot of them actually. He smiled slightly thinking back to the night when they decided to get married.

* * *

_Barney rolled his eyes as Robin turned up the music in the apartment and danced wildly._

"_Dance with me!" She cheered grabbing his hands and pulling him toward her. _

"_You're ridiculous." He smiled widely as she threw her arms in the air. _

"_Maybe," she shrugged. "But you love me." _

"_For some reason," he laughed taking hold of her hips to keep her close to him. _

"_It's okay, I love you too even though you're completely insane sometimes." _

"_Oh no, Scherbatsky. I think I'm the normal one in this relationship." She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. _

"_No, definitely not. I'm not the one who has an entire room dedicated to magic." _

"_Magic is cool!" He instantly defended. "And besides you're the one who used to be a teen pop star in Canada. That is a lot weirder than anything I have ever done." _

"_Whatever." _

"_Are we still dancing?" He asked smirking. _

"_You're the one who stopped." Robin insisted, hands on her hips. He reached for her hand and twirled her as she broke out into a smile. _

_When "Let's Get Married" by The Proclaimers started playing, Barney broke out into song pretending his hand was a microphone. _

"_And I'm the insane one," she murmured in amusement as Barney fell to his knees holding onto her hands as he sang along. _

"_Let's get marrrrried!" He sang loudly and out of tune, she laughed. "You know what would be really insane?" He grinned broadly. _

"_If we got married?" She asked wryly._

"_IF WE GOT MARRIED!" He exclaimed jumping to his feet. _

"_That is pretty insane." _

"_So, do you want to?" _

"_Are you asking?" She asked looking at him skeptically. He shut the radio off and cleared his throat._

"_Robin Scherbatsky," he said in a deep voice as he lowered himself to one knee. "Wanna marry me?" _

"_Why not?" She beamed down at him as he stood back up twirling her in his arms. "We really are crazy." She commented and he laughed._

"_Yeah, but it's a good crazy." _

"_It is," Robin affirmed pulling him in for a kiss. _


	5. Web of Lies

_Yeah, I know this took forever and I can't apologize enough. I was really stuck with where to take this and how fast I wanted to progress everything. Eventually I settled on this. Things are gonna start shaking up though! Who's excited for everyone to find out about Barney and Robin? I know I am! I want to thank anyone who reads this story much less takes the time to review or favorite or follow it. You're the best! _

* * *

Something had shifted. In the past couple weeks, the group dynamic had changed ever so slightly and Ted was still trying to figure out what exactly was happening. When Robin first joined the group she was friends with Lily, dating Ted, and sort of a friend of association to Marshall and Barney, then she was best friends with Lily, pretty good friends with Ted, friend of association to Marshall, and some weird mix of enemy and friend (he still hadn't really figured what was going on with them then) with Barney, but now…Robin was best friends with Barney.

From what he had heard, they hung out constantly. They entered a laser tag tournament together, they drank scotch together, they went to the cigar bar together. Barney still wouldn't take Ted to the cigar bar, but now after knowing Robin for a couple months she was all of a sudden Barney's best bro. Ted didn't know what it meant. He didn't know what happened. But he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

And no, before you even think it, he wasn't jealous. Psh. Like he could ever be jealous of Barney's relationship with a woman. Besides Barney wasn't with Robin, he still went home with women all the time (except for the nights he spent with Robin, he reminded himself). Whatever, it didn't matter. Ted and Robin were over. He accepted that. It was fine. But he didn't like where this whole Barney and Robin thing was heading and he definitely didn't trust it.

* * *

"Scherbatsky!" Barney cried entering MacLaren's. Ignoring the voice in his head that at one time, she was a Stinson.

"Hey Barney," Robin smiled at him from her spot at the booth. He quickly slid in next to her, nodding in acknowledgment at Lily and Marshall.

"So, I can't get us back into our usual laser tag spot." He admitted sullenly and her face dropped slightly.

"Maybe I can try?" She suggested. "Boobs are infinitely more convincing."

"She's right, y'know." Lily added in while Marshall nodded, but Barney ignored them focusing on Robin. He knew he had no right to be against this plan, but he knew he didn't want Robin trying to seduce some sleazy laser tag owner to get them back in. He wasn't jealous, per se. He just didn't like the thought of some guy getting to put his hands all over Robin when they could just as easily find another place to go. They were in one of the biggest cities in the world for God's sake. It wouldn't be a challenge.

"That won't be necessary." He confidently assured her, not allowing Robin to see any of the chinks in his armor. "I already made a list of the rest of the laser tag places in the city. We'll be visiting one per night for the next week and then we can make a final decision." He informed her pulling the list out of his pocket and sliding it toward her.

"What exactly did you do to get kicked out of the first laser tag place?" Marshall asked curiously folding his hands on the table. Barney could tell he was prepared to go into full-on lawyer mode if nothing else worked. He and Robin shared an uneasy look.

"We might have been a little mean to a few of the kids there…"

"You bullied children?" Lily questioned, her voice getting dangerously low.

"We were playing the game." Robin immediately defended. "If those suckers would've stayed out of our way," she shrugged turning her attention back to the list Barney handed her.

"Are you seriously telling us you guys were so mean to innocent children trying to play a game that they won't even let you come back?" Ted came in during the tail-end of Marshall's question swinging a chair to face the end of the table and shooting Barney and Robin judgmental looks.

"I half-expect this of Barney, but Robin!" Ted gasped. "I thought you were better than that." He saw Robin huff and cross her arms and Barney mimicked her stance.

"It's not bullying, if they're jerks." She mumbled.

"They're children!"

"Children are the devil." Barney said firmly and held his hand up for a high five, which Robin quickly returned.

"Who are you?" Ted asked turning his attention to Robin.

"Hi, I'm Robin Scherbatsky. I believe we've met before." She teased holding her hand out to Ted, who glared at it in return. Lily and Marshall both let out quiet snorts and Barney smirked down at the table.

"I'm not sure I like the Robin Scherbatsky that hangs out with Barney Stinson." Everyone swiveled their heads back and forth between Robin and Ted. Barney knew from the look on her face that Robin was gearing up for a fight.

"Well, tough. The Robin Scherbatsky that hangs out with Barney Stinson is pretty fucking awesome. And she has fun! Which is more than I can say for most of the time she spends with Ted Mosby." Ted's jaw dropped in astonishment, his eyes wide, and Barney tried to keep the gleam of pride in his eyes to a minimum. Ted definitely wouldn't appreciate that.

"I recall us having lots of fun together." Ted said indignantly and Barney caught the double entendre. He almost wants to throw up at the thought of Ted and Robin together. He obviously knew it had been happening, but that was before. When he blamed Robin for everything and convinced himself that their past meant nothing. Now that he had accepted (and was still to some extent currently accepting) what his past with Robin meant, hearing Ted refer to their relationship felt like a punch to the gut. But before Robin could reply to Ted's comment, Lily spoke up.

"Ted, honey, I think most of those nights were only fun for you." She pointed out with a sympathetic look.

"Wha-?" Ted started to ask before her meaning washed over him and he glared.

"Sorry, I know what fake orgasms sound like."

"Oh God," Robin muttered letting her head fall into her hands. Barney nudged her playfully with his elbow, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively and she quietly snorted.

"Think you could've left that part out, baby." Marshall whispered holding a hand up to his mouth to act as a divider, but not saying it nearly quiet enough.

"Look Ted, you're a really great guy but we weren't great for each other. And I have a suspicion that you think I'm a lot better in your head than I really am." Robin said with a bitter laugh. "Anyway, it's late. I think I should head to my apartment. It'd been a blast. Laser tag tomorrow?" She asked Barney and he nodded in response before she slid out of the booth and was gone.

"Way to go, Ted." He muttered sulkily once Robin was gone. Now what was Barney supposed to do? He had grown so accustomed to Robin always being there. He would probably go home with some bimbo tonight, since she was gone. And he was slowly realizing that wasn't what he wanted to do. Sure, he liked running plays but going home with random girls just wasn't the same now that Robin was back in his life.

He probably should've seen this one coming. It's not like he'd ever really gotten over her in the first place. Hence, the bimbos.

"Since when are you and Robin such good friends anyway?" Ted muttered under his breath and Barney raised his eyebrows. It didn't take much to hear the bitterness in Ted's tone.

"Well, we bonded over and then later with James because she knows him too and I realized how cool she was." Ted eyed Barney suspiciously but eventually nodded in agreement.

"She is cool." Marshall quickly agreed and Ted turned his head toward Marshall, who shrugged innocently. "What? We went to a Canadian bar together the other week. Minnesota and Canada are surprisingly similar."

"That's not that surprising, baby." Lily said soothingly trying to soften the blow and Marshall crossed his arms in response. Marshall opened his mouth prepared with a retort but he was cut off when a man came over.

"Barney Stinson?" He asked hesitantly looking at Barney, who was scrutinizing the man.

"Kevin Phillips! Man, it's been awhile." The man in question laughed as him and Barney shook hands.

"Yeah, I don't think I've seen you since right after graduation." They both smiled in reminiscence. Barney couldn't believe someone form his college was actually here. He hadn't seen anyone from college in ages, he actually missed them. College was some of the best years of his life and also all of his ones with Robin…oh, shit. Robin. Barney prayed to whatever God was above that Kevin wouldn't mention Robin.

"So, you and Sparkles still together?" Kevin asked conversationally and Barney closed his eyes in slight relief. At least he hadn't called her Robin. Sparkles could be anyone, well, not really, but the rest of the gang didn't know that.

"Uh, no. We broke up a year or so after graduation. It just didn't work out." Barney explained away.

"Aw, that's a shame. You guys were pretty cute together." Barney forced a laugh trying hard not too linger too much on the thoughts of his marriage with Robin. Ever since they became friends again, he tried to separate his thoughts of Robin. There was Robin who he was married to in his early twenties and then there was Robin who was quickly becoming his best friend. But they were separate people. He had to treat them like separate people.

"Yeah, but you know young love doesn't last." He quipped jokingly and Kevin nodded in agreement.

"Always thought you guys were in it for the long haul though." He shrugged and Kevin glanced over to the petite blonde woman calling his name. "Well, I think the missus wants to go. You remember how that is." Kevin remarked and Barney winced hoping his friends hadn't picked up on that.

"Yeah," he muttered unconvincingly.

"Anyway, it was great to see you, man." He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and jotted his number down. "I would love to get together sometime, give me a call." Barney nodded in agreement, pocketing Kevin's number.

"Definitely, let's do lunch or something." Kevin nodded in agreement before bidding everyone goodnight and heading out the door with his wife.

Kevin was married. Kevin the eternally single frat boy from college had a wife. And Barney was out here womanizing. How the tables had turned…he shook his head of that thought turning his attention back to the group who was watching him closely.

"Who is 'Sparkles'?" Lily finally asked.

"Oh, my, uh, she was my college girlfriend." He said nonchalantly. They couldn't suspect anything was up with him. Barney imagined it wouldn't be too hard to discover the truth.

"Why'd you guys break-up?"

"We were too young," he shrugged it off. That was technically true. Although there were a variety of other reasons and months of fighting that eventually lead to the break-up (divorce, he reminded himself).

"Did you love her?"

"Jeeze, what's with the interrogation, Lil?" He shifted slightly uncomfortable.

"I think we all figured you'd always been a womanizer and now we're finding out you had an extremely serious girlfriend in college." More than extremely serious, his inner monologue corrected. He had been married. That'd really blow everyone's mind.

"Yeah, we're all reevaluating what we knew now." Ted supplied with a shrug. "Any chance we can meet Sparkles?"

"No, I haven't spoken to her in years." Well, that'd been true until a few months ago…

"Oh," Lily said disappointed.

"What kind of name is Sparkles?" Marshall asked finally speaking up and Barney rolled his eyes.

"That wasn't her real name, just a nickname. But most people called her Sparkles."

"Why?"

"Long story," he waved off. He needed to get off of this line of questioning as fast as he possibly could.

"Is she the reason that you're like this?" Lily questioned after a few beats of silence.

_Yes. _

"Nah, Lily. I'm 100% awesome because I was born this way. I just took a side track into the life of a little less awesome for a bit. But then I came back better than ever, baby. Now if you'll excuse me there's a redhead at the bar who needs some attention." He managed his typical lecherous grin and slid out of the booth.

Now, he just had to make sure they never brought that up again. And he definitely needed to warn Robin. The last thing he needed was her to crack under pressure after the web of lies he'd spun.


	6. Hard Habit to Break

_Ah, this is shorter than my normal chapters! And you had to wait forever for an update...Sorry! But this chapter was a big one plot wise, so yay?! Once again thank you so much for all your feedback and favorites and follows and you guys are the best! Especially because I'm super unreliable..but I promise all my stories will get finished! You have my word._

* * *

"Oh Barney! I ran into someone who knew you today." Lily announced as he entered the apartment where Ted, Robin, Lily, and Marshall had already congregated.

"You did?" He questioned raising an eyebrow. "Well, of course you did. The only question is whether I knew her." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively ignoring the groans of his friends.

"She said she knew you in college. I don't know how she knew that I knew you, but she gave me something for you." Barney's eyebrows creased in confusion.

"What was her name again?"

"Uhhhhh," Lily started drawing it out. He wasn't sure if she was trying to torture him purposefully, but this was killing him. Who could Lily have possibly run into? And what did they give her? And, most importantly, would it incriminate him and Robin? "Shannon! Her name was Shannon." Uh oh. He glanced over at Robin, who was looking back at him in a panic. Well, okay, it might still be salvageable.

"What'd she give you?"

"Oh, a video. She didn't tell me what it was. I guess she accidentally got a hold of it when you moved or something." There was only one video that had mysteriously disappeared when he moved… "She felt bad too because it was really important. She said to apologize on her behalf." Yeah, it was definitely what he thought it was.

"Can I have the tape?" He asked trying to lessen the panic in his voice, but Robin must've heard it because her eyes were wide. Lily smiled sweetly and handed him the tape, which he quickly stuffed into his jacket and away from his friends.

"Ha!" Lily laughed pulling a second tape out. "I knew you wouldn't let us watch it." She moved toward the VCR and Barney felt his pulse quicken.

"Stop!" Robin yelled jumping up. "We should respect Barney's privacy. Give him the tape."

"I will." Lily promised and he sighed in relief. "After we watch it." She grinned shoving the tape in and Robin slunk down to the floor next to his chair. She rose her eyes to Barney's in silent question and he nodded in response. Robin slunk lower to the floor. Ted, Marshall, and Lily all had their entire attention on the television as a very young Barney appeared.

_He was standing at the front of the church in a suit, arguably not as nice as his ones now but infinitely more important. His hands were hanging loosely at his sides as he bounced on his toes. _

"_Why you so nervous, Barn?" A voice behind the camera asked. _

"_Dude, he's about to get married. He's allowed to be nervous." James, who was standing next to Barney, said rolling his eyes toward the camera. _

At the word 'married', his friends audibly gasped and Robin closed her eyes tightly. At least one of them was accepting of their fate. "Do we really have to watch this?" Barney mumbled irritably refusing to look toward Ted, Marshall, and Lily.

"Yes!" They quickly replied before shushing him.

"_You're not gonna back out, are you?" The voice asked and James sighed exasperatedly. _

"_You need to stop talking. There are too many people here for him to back out." James said the last part quietly stepping away from Barney. At the mention of the crowd, the camera turned to pan around the nicely decorated church, before turning back to Barney. _

"_I'm fine, guys. I just want this to be over, so I can be married." As if on cue, the music swelled up and the camera swiveled catching the back doors of the church opening. Two women walked down the aisle, but then the music changed to signal the coming of the bride. _

"Is that…Robin?!" Ted asked in confusion. Robin reached out and grabbed onto Barney's arm tightly. He wondered if watching this was as emotional for her as it was for him. This was bringing back a lot of memories: ones that he hasn't thought about in years, ones that he buried when he signed those divorce papers.

"Shhh! Just watch!" Lily ordered hitting Ted in the arm and turning her attention back to the television.

_Robin made it down the aisle and lined up with Barney, smiling widely when he reached over to grab her hand. _

"_Friends and family, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Barney Stinson and Robin Scherbatsky Jr in matrimony." A man dressed in a traditional suit said stepping up onto the podium. "If anyone can show just cause as to why they shouldn't be wed speak now or forever hold your peace." The man said jovially glancing around the church. "No one? Okay, good! Let's get down to business." He smiled down at Barney and Robin. "I've been instructed to get through this as quickly as possible. They've written their own vows, so Barney?" Barney smiles looking up at Robin and gently lacing their hands together. _

"_So, apparently I was supposed to prepare something to say?" He said with a small laugh and Robin rolled her eyes at his antics. "I know the idea to get married was spur of the moment, but I'm glad we did it. I can't think of anyone else who I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. I knew the minute I met you that you were completely awesome. And I'm so happy you decided I was awesome enough to marry. So, yeah, I love you." He grinned and Robin grinned back as she blinked away her tears. _

"_Robin," the minister prompted looking at her. _

"_You're an idiot." She laughed and shook her head. "But you're my idiot. You make me laugh more than anyone else in the world. You're the only person who can call me 'Sparkles' and get away with it. And you're the only one who can make me do insane things like decide to get married. And I can't wait to see what other stupid things you make me do. I love you." _

"_Okay, with the power vested in me by the state of Massachusetts I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride." They smiled widely at each other before Barney leaned forward capturing her lips in his. _

The video suddenly cut off as Barney stopped it. He was glad they opted for a short wedding because any longer and that would have been impossible to sit through. He tossed the tape to Robin, who quickly shoved it in her bag. They shared a soft look and for a minute Barney forgot why they ever got divorced. They had loved each other so much. How did it go so far downhill? He was broken out of his thoughts by Lily's voice.

"You two were married?" She asked shakily looking between them. Barney nodded heavily and Robin shrugged in agreement.

"No, this has got to be some sort of practical joke!" Ted yelled standing up quickly. "You paid Shannon off to give Lily the tape. You two filmed this tape weeks ago just to mess with us. Well, ha ha, you freaked us out. Now tell us the truth." He demanded. Robin stood up and joined Barney at the front of the room.

"We should've started with the truth." Barney commented wryly and Robin hit him in the arm.

"The truth is that Barney and I met in college. We dated for a couple months before Barney asked me to marry him. We were married for two years. We were young, it didn't work out. We got divorced, moved to completely different cities. I hadn't talked to him since the divorce until that night I met all of you guys in MacLaren's." Robin explained to the group, who were still in disbelief.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Robin looked at Barney and he heard her silent, 'this one's all yours'. He shrugged.

"It was my fault. I didn't know how to deal, so I pretended I didn't know Robin. I asked her to go along with it."

"That explains how you know James too." Marshall spoke up referencing the night of Barney's party.

"But you guys have been getting closer lately!" Lily smiled slightly. "Are you thinking about getting back together?"

"No," they both said immediately. They looked at each other wide-eyed until Robin continued.

"We still have a lot of issues to work through and we did then too. I don't think it'd be a good idea, we're just friends."

"So, you're telling me that you two have been married? The two biggest commitment-phobes in the entire world?" Ted questioned, the incredulity leaking into his tone.

"How do you think we got this way?" Barney sighed stuffing his hands in his suit pocket. "Look, we didn't want to tell you because we thought it'd be easier for everyone if you didn't know. But now you know and we'd both appreciate it if you didn't bring it up constantly." Robin nodded readily in agreement.

"We're in a really good place and mentioning our past will just make us both uncomfortable." She finished.

"We can do that." Marshall and Lily mumbled reluctantly, but Ted's eyebrows rose.

"Are you guys not even a little bit angry that they kept this insanely huge secret from us?"

"They seemed to have somewhat legitimate reasons. Besides we all keep some secrets from the group." Marshall shrugged.

"BUT THEY WERE MARRIED!"

"You wanna get out of here?" Barney asked bending low to whisper in Robin's ear.

"You know it." She laughed linking her arm with his and sneaking out, their friends oblivious to their movements.

"So, they know." Robin stated as soon as they'd gotten outside of the apartment.

"They do." Barney confirmed.

"I'm kind of glad. Now we don't have to worry about when it will inevitably come up."

"Yeah," he agreed. "Y'know, I always wondered what happened to our wedding video."

"Aw, did you look for it on lonely nights?" Robin joked with a smirk and Barney shrugged.

"Nothing like that, but sometimes…" He paused trying to collect his thoughts. "Sometimes I wanted a reminder that our whole marriage wasn't in my head. I mean, we got divorced and you completely disappeared. I thought I might've imagined it." He admitted quietly and Robin stopped reaching her arm out to grab him.

"I'm sorry that I disappeared like that." She apologized sincerely and licked her lips. "It was really hard for me, after us and I knew if I stuck around Boston-" Robin shook her head and played with the edges of her jacket. "It was like I couldn't move on from you there. I had to get out or else I was going to be stuck." He nodded in understanding.

"I guess I get it. But you couldn't get out of there fast enough and I didn't want to let go. We had different methods of coping."

"I didn't want to let go either." She admitted quietly and Barney's head snapped up. They had moved imperceptibly closer over the course of their conversation and now Robin was barely six inches from him. "You were a hard habit to break, Barney Stinson." She murmured softly looking up at him.

"Right back at you, Scherbatsky." He said matching her tone.


	7. We'll Figure It Out

_Wooo, I finally updated! Except I kind of hate this chapter for a lot of reasons, but I didn't know what else to do so I decided to just post it. Hopefully you don't hate it! Okay, once again thanks for all the reviews/favorites/reads/follows, honestly without you guys I might not have even updated this so thank you! And I am so so sorry this took so long!_

* * *

"This is a bad idea." Robin commented softly, her lips a breath from Barney's as she fingered the lapels of his jacket.

"That's never stopped us before." He replied just as quietly.

"This is a bad idea." She said louder this time, effectively shaking them out of the stupor they'd fallen into. Barney took a step back and closed his eyes tightly, swallowing hard, but nodding in agreement.

"You're right." He cleared his throat. "You're right." He repeated, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that, than agree with her. Robin bit her bottom lip and looked everywhere but at Barney. They stood in silence, neither daring to look at the other one.

"Is it going to be awkward now?" Robin finally questioned.

"Between us?"

"No, between us and them," she clarified gesturing above to the apartment. Barney shrugged.

"Weirder things have happened."

"Ted seemed upset…" Robin muttered apprehensively.

"Ted's just upset that we have a history. He'll get over it soon. And if he's mad at anyone, it'll be me, not you." She pursed her lips, eyes flitting up to the apartment.

"That hardly seems fair." Barney shrugged.

"He'll get over it, I promise. This isn't going to plague our group forever or anything. They just have to get used to it. And it's really not that big of a deal. It's not like we're getting back together or anything." He said with an awkward laugh, but at Robin's non-reaction paused. "Right?"

"Yeah, right. Yeah." Robin managed to respond. Barney's eyebrows crinkled evaluating Robin closely, she shifted under his gaze crossing her arms. He reached forward tucking an errant strand of hair behind Robin's ear and she leaned closer. They met each other's eyes and slowly leaned forward, their lips meeting softly. Barney's hands drifted down to her waist, pulling her closer as her hands tugged on the ends of his hair. When they pulled away out of necessity, Barney kept his arms tightly wound around her waist and Robin's head fell to rest on his shoulder.

"Bad idea," she mumbled turning her head so her nose was pressed against the collar of his shirt.

"Bad idea." He agreed, his thumb drawing light circles against her hip. Her hands move up to his shoulders gently pushing him away.

"I think-" She stood up taking another step back. "I think I need to go." Barney nodded and ignored the voice in his head screaming for her to stay. "I'll see you tomorrow." Robin smiled and then turned away taking off down the street.

Barney shoved his hands in his pockets walking to the edge of the curb to hail a cab with only one thought running through his mind, _what the hell just happened?_

* * *

"So, you and Barney?" Lily asked uninterestedly and Robin raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you knew I was going to ask about it, just tell me!" Lily begged, knee bouncing up and down eagerly.

"There's nothing to tell," she stated trying to keep her voice impassive. "Barney and I told you everything last night."

"Oh, you did not. You told us barely the basics." Lily rolled her eyes. "How'd you meet? How'd he propose? Why'd you break up? And how in the world did you get Barney Stinson to commit?" Robin tensed and glanced over at Lily's eager eyes.

"I really don't want to talk about it, Lil."

"Okay, fine. I'll let it go." Robin couldn't help but hear the unsaid '_for now'_ at the end of Lily's sentence. "What'd you guys do last night after you left?"

"Uh, nothing." Robin answered her voice getting high.

"Where's the poop?" She questioned crossing her arms.

"What?"

"What happened last night?"

"BarneyandIkindofmadeout." Robin mumbled in a rush of words. She hadn't meant for it to slip out, but she wanted to talk to somebody about it and Lily was as good a choice as any. Lily's eyebrows rose and her mouth dropped open.

"Last night?" She nodded and dropped her head into her hands. "Did you guys talk about it?" Robin snorted.

"Barney and I don't talk about things." Lily reached over and soothingly rubbed her hand over Robin's back. "Also, I ran away." She said in a tiny voice.

"Ran away?"

"I told him I would see him tomorrow and then walked very briskly in the other direction."

"Oh honey," Lily murmured as Robin slumped further into the couch.

"I don't know what we were thinking. We were finally good again and then I had to mess it all up by kissing him and now it's going to be awkward. AND ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT IS THAT STUPID KISS!"

"Robin, you have to calm down." Lily instructed looking back warily. Robin followed her eyes to Ted's door and groaned. Of course Ted was home and he probably heard her. He's going to talk to her about this later. Oh god, she already has enough things to deal with, she doesn't want to deal with Ted too.

"I am calm." She took a deep breath. "Let's talk about something else." Lily bit her bottom lip in hesitation.

"I know you don't want to talk about this, but you seem upset."

"I'm only upset because I'm worried that it's going to ruin our newly formed friendship." Robin said tight-lipped. She didn't want to talk about any of it. Anything involving Barney needed to be off-topic for now because she couldn't even handle thinking about it much less talking about it.

"Robin-"

"Just leave it, Lily! It'll be fine. I'll get over it. I just need to see Barney and then everything will be great." Lily eyed her with concern but nodded in acquiescence.

"Good, he should be here any minute. He and Marshall were stopping to grab food." Almost on cue, Barney and Marshall bounded through the door. Barney snickering and Marshall's head hung in shame as they both sat down. Marshall tossed the take out bags on the coffee table.

"TED! FOOD'S HERE!" Lily yelled as if she was calling her son to dinner. "What are you laughing at?"

"Marshall got slapped." Barney managed to get out through his laughs with barely contained glee.

"Aw baby, are you okay?" Marshall nodded glaring at Barney, as he unwrapped his burger from the foil.

"What happened?" Robin asked finally finding her voice. She pretended not to notice that the smile dropped off his face when he glanced her way and ignored the way her whole body tensed up.

"This lady had a very delicious looking burger and I was admiring it and she just happened to be holding it very close to a prominent area on her body." Marshall explained refusing to look at any of them, his hand resting on the reddened cheek.

"This lady thought Marshall was staring at her boobs so she slapped him." Barney summarized before breaking out into a mad laughter, as Ted entered the room. "Marshall got beat up by a girl."

"What happened?"

"Too bad, Mosby, you missed story time." Barney said suddenly appearing serious as he started eating his meal. The rest of the room regarded Barney curiously, but no one spoke up.

"Well, I was going to head down to MacLaren's in a little bit. Does anyone want to come?" Ted asked popping the lid off his beer.

"No can do, Teddy Boy. Pickings have been slim at MacLaren's lately. I'm going to try out a few new places." Barney smiled widely. "I've been thinking of some pretty great plays lately. I have this new one-"

"I'll go to MacLaren's with you!" Robin suddenly blurted out, effectively cutting Barney off. She refused to look his direction and instead sent a small smile toward Ted. She needed to get good and drunk tonight. If Barney was going to pretend like their kiss didn't mean anything, well then so was she. Ted smiled back and then turned towards the couple.

"Marshall? Lily?"

"Nah, you guys go ahead. We're going to stay in tonight." Ted nodded and continued eating his meal. The rest of their food was finished while Ted, Marshall, and Lily talked comfortably and Barney and Robin completely ignored each other.

"Ready?" Ted asked looking at Robin, who nodded and gathered her things.

"I'll walk out with you guys!" Barney jumped up following the two out of the apartment.

"You sure you don't want to come to the bar with us?" Ted glanced at Barney, who nodded.

"Ted, there are chicks to trick into bed. I want to see what the world outside of MacLaren's has to offer."

"Fine," he sighed rolling his eyes at Barney's antics. "Don't get too many drinks thrown at you!" Ted called after him. Robin watched him go with a sigh and pushed past Ted into the bar. She headed straight for Carl ordering a scotch and downing it quickly before asking for a refill. "Whoa, slow down, Scherbs." Robin's nose wrinkled as she regarded Ted and he shrugged. "I was trying for a nickname."

"Don't."

"Noted." He nodded. "Let's go find a seat…" He grabbed her elbow leading her toward their normal booth. Once they were settled, Ted leveled her with a serious look. "Now, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Robin took another sip of her scotch.

"More drinks." She murmured.

"Okay, but if I have to take care of drunk Robin later, I better get some good information out of it?" She smiled at Ted as he left for the bar, grabbing more drinks. He slid back into the booth across from her placing several drinks in front of her.

* * *

Ted watched Robin's alcohol intake, making sure she hadn't ingested too much, but enough before he prodded her again. After finishing her third glass of scotch and second beer, he folded his hands on the table.

"Spill it." He demanded and she glared at the table miserably.

"I kissed Barney and now he's ignoring me and sleeping with random girls again." She slurred resting her head against her arm.

"You kissed Barney recently?" Ted clarified watching as Robin seemingly fell apart in front of him.

"Last night, after we left your apartment because you were freaking out." He winced outwardly, regretting the way he'd acted last night. He realized too late that he was overreacting, but he resolved today to let it go and be normal and he had.

"Sorry about that," he quickly got out before focusing back on the matter at hand. "So, why are you upset that Barney's with other women? Do you want to get back together?"

"Yes," she said instantly and then shook her head a second later. "No." She sighed. "I don't know, maybe."

"I think you need to talk to Barney." She glanced up at him from where her head was resting on the table.

"He doesn't want to talk to me, Ted. He couldn't wait to get away from me tonight." He smiled sympathetically and reached across the table placing his hand on top of hers.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. Now that I know the situation I'm going to take you home to so you can sleep this off and tomorrow we'll regroup, you'll decide what you want, and if what you want is Barney, then we'll figure that out too." She nodded managing a grin for Ted.

"Thank you." She mumbled pushing herself up. Ted placed an arm around her waist gently steering her toward the door.

"No problem."

"What if I decide I want to be with Barney and he doesn't wanna be with me?" She asked after a moment, the vulnerability clear in her voice.

"Then he's an idiot and we'll find you someone more worth your time, okay?"

"Okay."


	8. Just Friends

_I am so so unbelievably sorry this took so long! And this chapter is really short too...I had really bad writer's block for awhile and honestly, I wasn't sure where this story was going. But I think I figured it out, so hopefully it won't take me so long to update next time! I just want to thank you all for reading and reviewing this story! If you guys hadn't been, then I probably never would've gotten the motivation to update. So, thanks! (Also, I didn't proofread so I apologize in advanced for any egregious typos.)_

_Side note: I wrote a HIMYM/Community crossover, if you're interested! It's in the crossover section here, or you can find it on my profile!_

* * *

Ted breathed out a sigh of relief when he entered MacLaren's to find Barney sitting alone. He had been hoping to find him here. After getting the entire story from a very intoxicated Robin last night, Ted decided he would find a way to get Barney and Robin back together. Okay, maybe that was premature. First, he'd find out how Barney felt, then he'd talk to Robin while she was sober. Then, he'd devise a plan.

"Hey Barney." Ted greeted sliding into the booth across from him.

"Ted," Barney responded less than enthused and he sighed heavily. Clearly Barney still hadn't forgiven him for his terrible reaction to Barney and Robin's past.

"I'm really sorry about the other night." Barney looked at him warily. "I reacted badly to finding out about you and Robin and I shouldn't have. I want you guys to be happy, so…" He finished.

"Well, thanks Ted but Robin and I are over."

"I know, but don't you ever wonder?" Barney paused focusing on the glass of scotch in front of him.

"Are you trying to get my blessing to go after Robin again?" He asked confused and Ted quickly shook his head.

"No, not at all. Robin and I never would've worked out." Barney squinted at Ted, observing him carefully.

"Why are you so interested in me and Robin?" Ted shrugged feigning nonchalance.

"I'm curious. Barney Stinson settling down. I've known you for years and I never would've thought you were married." Barney rolled his eyes.

"Well, that's because I awesome-d up, Ted. I mean, I was always awesome, but I got more awesome." Ted detected a slight chink in Barney's façade and decided to go for it. He would never get Barney to admit anything on his own volition. Ted needed to read between the lines and ask the right questions.

"Robin must've been pretty special, huh?" Ted questioned and Barney sat forward startled by the question. Ted hid his smirk behind his beer bottle.

"Yeah, y'know, Robin was great." Barney said his voice full of false enthusiasm. He was quiet for a second, seemingly absorbed in his own thoughts. Ted stayed silent allowing Barney time to work through his thoughts. "She, uh, she still is great." He finally muttered, the sincerity clear in his voice.

"So, what happened?" Barney rolled his eyes.

"Nothing 'happened', Ted." He looked down at his glass again still swirling the scotch. "We were young, it was stupid."

"Seemed like you held quite a grudge against her for something that was stupid." Ted quipped leaning back against the booth. He knew he couldn't push Barney much further. He needed to get the idea back in his head, but he couldn't spur Barney into any kind of action.

"Ted, why are we still talking about this?" Barney asked tiredly. "There are pretty girls at the bar!"

"I don't want to talk to the pretty girls, Barney."

"You don't?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No, and you don't either."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure I do, Ted."

"You want Robin and you're too afraid of getting hurt again to admit it." Barney snorted.

"That's ridiculous."

"Robin's doing the same thing." Ted revealed before sliding out of the booth.

"What's your aim here, Ted?" Barney sighed.

"You guys are my friends and I want you to be happy. That's it."

* * *

Robin flipped through the photo album again ignoring the tightness she felt in her chest at the pictures of her and Barney happily in each other's arms. She couldn't stop thinking about what Ted said yesterday. Did she still love Barney?

Of course she did. She would always love Barney. But was she still in love with him? That kiss the other night definitely brought back…_something. _Although, she was sure neither her nor Barney were in a place where revisiting that kiss would be a good thing.

After all, they had just gotten their friendship back finally and she didn't want to mess that up again. Besides, they weren't relationship people. They liked casual arrangements. And can you honestly have a casual sexual relationship with your ex-husband? She fought to ignore the voice in her head that kept telling her it was worth a try. No.

She just needed to find a guy. She had been spending so much time with Barney lately that dating had fallen by the wayside; maybe now that they were back to ignoring each other she could go on a few dates. She nodded resolutely. Nothing good would come out of revisiting anything with Barney.

A sudden knock on the door startled Robin and she moved into action to answer it. She felt a gnawing feeling at her stomach when she opened the door to reveal Ted. She suppressed a groan and stepped aside to let him in.

"Hey," he greeted. "Thought anymore about what we discussed?"

"Yeah and thanks for your offer Ted, but I don't think I'll be needing the help." She said sweetly.

"So, you don't want to get back with Barney?"

"Nope." She answered shortly. "It would just be a mistake. We're both over each other and going back down that road would ruin all the progress we've made."

"Well, good. I'm glad."

"You are?" She might've been rather drunk last night, but from her recollection Ted seemed to be pushing her and Barney together.

"Yeah, because I just talked to Barney and he feels the same way." Ted smiled widely.

"Oh." _Oh. _Why did it feel like her heart was suddenly in her stomach?

"You okay?"

"Yeah, no, I'm great." She said in a daze sitting down on the couch.

"You just said 'yeah, no'." Ted pointed out. Robin ignored his comment.

"It's good. We're both in the same place. No room for awkwardness. Yay."

"You didn't seem so sure of that last night."

Ted wasn't going to let this go. She could tell. He would push her until she broke and all her feelings for Barney spilled out. Well, she wasn't going to let that happen.

"Well, I'm sure now. In fact, I am so sure that I'm going to go to a bar and find a nice, handsome guy, who isn't Barney." She stood up and slipped on her shoes, throwing her coat over her arm.

"You coming, Ted?"

* * *

Alright, his plan was majorly backfiring. He was supposed to plant little nuggets in both Barney's and Robin's heads and they would eventually come to the conclusion that they wanted to be together. Simple. Piece of Cake. Easy as 123. Slam dunk. (Were there anymore cliché sayings that he missed?) Whatever. That was besides the point.

He was trying to get them back together and instead they were both at separate bars flirting with other people.

Yeah, he basically managed to accomplish the opposite of what he set out to. He had underestimated the amount of damage Barney and Robin had done to each other. Apparently, a light push wasn't going to be enough for them. Ted needed to figure out a way to turn a light push into a very hard shove. He was pretty much at a loss, because how do you get two huge commitment-phobes to admit they're in love with each other?

He thought it might be impossible; but then he remembered the sincerity in Barney's voice as he talked about Robin and the fake smile Robin forced when he said Barney wanted to move on, and he knew he had to do something. He couldn't do it alone, but he knew just the person to help him out.

* * *

"You think Barney and Robin are still in love with each other?" Lily asked after hearing Ted's spiel. He nodded.

"They're pretty miserable without each other."

"We have to get them back together!" She squealed already going into planning mode. "You came to the right person, Ted." Ted nodded with a wide smile. "Although I have more experience breaking relationships up, then starting them."

"What do you mean?" Oops.

"Uh, nothing." She replied, her voice going up several pitches.

"Who have you broken up?"

"Oh, your finally telling Ted about The Front Porch test?" Marshall smiled good-naturedly at both of them as he walked into the room.

"The Front Porch Test?" Lily shot a glare at Marshall, who shrugged apologetically, before turning her attention on Ted.

"Okay, when you get a serious girlfriend I play a scenario in my head and if she passes I support you guys and if she doesn't…"

"You break us up." Ted supplied.

"Yeah, but it doesn't happen often! It was really only with Karen."

"I liked Karen!"

"Dude, Karen was awful. You would've hated yourself if you ended up with Karen." Marshall said taking a seat.

"She was not that bad."

"She cheated on you all the time!"

"We're getting off-topic. Now, my plan for Barney and Robin…"

* * *

Robin pulled on her shirt quietly as she slunk out of Jason? Jeremy? Jeff? She was pretty sure it was Jeff's apartment. She hadn't meant to go home with him, but…he was being sweet and she needed to prove to herself that she was over Barney. Granted, there were better ways to do it, but this seemed like the most immediate.

Barney didn't think there was anything between them? Well, you know what neither did she.

It worked. She was over Barney. Not that she had had feelings for him in a long time. That kiss just made her think about things, but those things were better left in the past. Clearly. She groans and starts her trek back to her apartment. Thinking about Barney isn't going to help, she reminds herself. What she needed to do was not think about Barney as anyone other than the mostly gross, occasionally sweet guy that she was friends with. Just friends with.

Tonight was the first step in Robin reasserting herself in the dating game. She would be fine. It was a stupid kiss. It meant nothing. She didn't have feelings for Barney. Any romantic things she felt towards her were just residual memories from their marriage. But she in no way, shape, or form wanted to pursue any type of relationship with him. _Not that he would want it anyway, _Robin thought bitterly.

She pushed the door to her apartment building open, sighing tiredly. She needed a good night's sleep. She would feel better after that.

She almost fell over in relief when she reached her floor. Although, she wasn't expecting what awaited her on the other side of the elevator door.

Barney was sitting in front of her door looking up at her expectantly as she approached.

"Hey," he murmured hesitantly.

"Hi," she replied, her keys dangling from her hands.

"Can we talk?" She stopped, standing completely still as she observed Barney. He wanted to talk. He probably wanted to let her down gently after Ted told him about her drunk ramblings the other night.

She sighed accepting her fate and nodded, gesturing for him to stand up. She could do this. All she had to do was assure him she had no feelings for him, he would do the same, then everything would go back to normal. Or at least some semblance of normal.


End file.
